Post by Mazekial on Jan 15, 2013 19:29:13 GMT -5
Greetings, fellow EotV members and/or staff. Well, with a new map comes that time of server: lore update time! Well, I'm going to do things a little differently this time around: I got an ok from Shino, but just to make sure the staff aren't the only people who get a say in if lore gets made public, I'm going to post this partially-approved lore and get your feedback. If popular demand requests any sort of changes--and they make sense and/or are legitimate--I will fix those up before Insane gives the ultimate ok by posting it on the MC forums thread. Well, here you go: the Era of the Vanguard Lore: v3.5!
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The Story of the Remnant of Solstheim
The story of our plight-our struggle, our being-began 40 years ago in the lands of Skyrim. The dragons had been unleashed and Alduin, their leader, was readying his plot. But one hope remained. The Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn. A figure of uncertain race, gender, or appearance, and no clear abilities or past aside from his command of the Voice. The Dovahkiin had been preparing, and was now ready, to take on Alduin as the dragon sought to devour the souls of Sovngarde. He was equipped with the mighty shout Dragonrend. We had a chance! The Dovahkiin entered Sovngarde, located Alduin...
Then he failed. He drew too far into the mist, and he too was devoured by Alduin. Our last hope to stop the Alduin Incident failed. Not to long afterwards, Alduin ruled the land and sky of Skyrim, demolishing anything he could get his claws on. Men, mer, and beast sought for survival and escape, both the current generation and all future generations to come. The Imperial Legion, under the orchestration of a man by the name of Duke Derevan, led an Evacuation Operation in which the citizens of Skyrim who survived were taken aboard a Legion vessel called The Durc and transported to the distant island of Solstheim. The mighty ship had destroyed any fleeing ship of Ulfric Stormcloak earlier, earning its honor to play its part in the exodus.
But that was almost 50 years ago. Since then, things have gone both uphill and very, very, downhill. Solstheim was eventually targeted by the Daedra, eyed by a corrupt Imperial Legion, and brutally attacked by the former and relentlessly occupied by the latter. With nowhere to run and divines know nowhere to hide, we were all but vanquished, fighting ultimately in vain to re-secure the island...then we were given a ray of hope.
The Divine Mara instructed us to sail to Atmora, which according to her was made habitable as a safe haven for us so both the Divines could engage the Daedra directly on Solstheim, and so we could have a safe place to reside until the Legion's conquest and pursuit of us died down. Either way, most recent reports claim Soltheim was razed clean of anything living after we, the "Remnant of Solstheim", left the island.
What happened after that has remained shady at best. The Legion lessened their devotion of resources to hunting after our heads, and likewise most of the bounty hunters seeking us gave up their chase. We spent about a year on Atmora, continuing our lives and even meeting new allies as if nothing was wrong. Using the term "nothing" very loosely, of course. Aside from that, though, the past five years, for most of us, seem to have gone by in a flash. During these five years, starting around 4E 246, we left Atmora, being called by Mara instead to travel to a recently-popularized landmass somewhere to the west of Tamriel. What was the name again? Even after these five years I have trouble remembering it...
Ah yes, how on Nirn could I forget? Solterkardi.
~Anonymous Writer, 15th of Morning Star, 4E 251
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Solterkardi: Chaos of Transfigured Corruption
Still mysterious since its initial discovery in 4E 241 by a crew of Nordic explorers and Orismer pioneers, the strange land mass dubbed "Solterkardi" by one of the crewmen (who claimed to have felt the name "calling to his soul") lies a couple miles off the Northwestern coast of Tamriel, and seems to have more-or-less appeared out of thin air some time during this era.
Solterkardi's climate is almost unnatural despite its Northwestern geographic location. The majority of the land is composed of temperate plains which are mostly surrounded by high mountain ranges that block general mobility aside from a network of conveniently-placed tunnels. There are other regions scattered among the mountainous land containing more varied landscapes, but are either completely inaccessible or require a timely trek through the tunnels that oddly enough stretch for miles, but feel as if they take a few minutes to wander through. Stranger so, this never seemed to bother the pioneers. Nor did it bother their families. Nor did it bother the first settlers, nor the first town, nor the residents of the first city on Solterkardi: Sol'Civith, established 4E 244. Over the next two years after that, Solterkardi almost instantaneously acquired Tamreilic notability, and trade routes and ferry systems were established on a rapid scale, and a seamless independent government was established without question or opposition.
Among those who came were the Remnant of Solstheim themselves in 4E 246, some of whom claimed they were "sent" there by a Divine. Most people just treat them as any other common rambler, and some claim their stories are merely fictitious tales trying to boast their "prowess", primarily due to their claims of settling Atmora, a land many still assumed was an inhospitable arctic wasteland, and especially the claims of interacting directly with Divines (specifically Mara) and other supernatural beings on both Atmora and Solstheim.
By 4E 250, a year prior to the current date, Solterkardi became a fully-developed independent land mass. Word and rumors spread wildly through Tamriel, describing it as a "splendorous land ripe with culture". Some who have decided to visit the land claim to have been drawn by different circumstances, a common factor being the usage of the words "calling" or "siren" or other such "tug-on-the-soul", but unlike the Remnant of Solstheim's alleged "sending", these people do not attach this to any deity, even those who affiliate strongly with Divines or even Daedra, rather being drawn by some other entity; drawn by the promise of a major land-grab, a secluded paradise away from the chaos of the rest of the world, or another unknown presence enticing them.
However, something is clearly amiss. While the land sounds like a utopia in the rumors, little do people realize until they see for themselves that the land is as corrupt as any Tamrielic province; bandits prowl in camps in the wilds, monstrous creatures stalk in the night, and rumors are circulating of a cult of sorts secretly conspiring somewhere away from the public eye. To top it all off, Lord Gunjar, the current ruler of the land, has reportedly become corrupt, defiling the land with a very bizarre behavior; from "small" things like complete segregation of the elite "rich" and common "poor" in the central city of Sol'Civith and outlawing the practice of all magic, to longer-reaching circumstances like cutting off contact from the Empire and doing nothing about the chaos and distress occurring anywhere outside his own palace.
However, none of this has kept people from coming. In fact, despite this, most of those that come claim to never be leaving, stating the calling/siren is too strong for them to leave now after such-and-such time. The boats still come, and the people still remain (even the discriminated whose lives are a living hell in the land). If anything, the immigration rate has skyrocketed, with people coming in from all walks of life and all corners of Tamriel...and you are among them.
You have come seeking this land to experience what it has to offer you...and to determine what you can "offer" it. Your reasons are you own. Have you come to start a new life with a clean slate in a land set apart from the rest of the world? Have you come to end the corruption and bring order to the frontier? Are you simply among the vast majority who just feel "called" to come? Or are you here with a much more sinister objective? Are you here to seek power to control others through the twisted government? To pillage the cities of all they own? To escalate the corruption and chaos that plagues the land?
There's a world of possibilities, far too many to describe them all. A world of choices in a land of mystery and adventure. Your actions can potentially change the course of all life in this alienated land. The actions of all will either uncover the truth of this land and end the corruption, or condemn it to Oblivion to share a similar fate as Solstheim...
--------
The Story of the Remnant of Solstheim
The story of our plight-our struggle, our being-began 40 years ago in the lands of Skyrim. The dragons had been unleashed and Alduin, their leader, was readying his plot. But one hope remained. The Dovahkiin, the Dragonborn. A figure of uncertain race, gender, or appearance, and no clear abilities or past aside from his command of the Voice. The Dovahkiin had been preparing, and was now ready, to take on Alduin as the dragon sought to devour the souls of Sovngarde. He was equipped with the mighty shout Dragonrend. We had a chance! The Dovahkiin entered Sovngarde, located Alduin...
Then he failed. He drew too far into the mist, and he too was devoured by Alduin. Our last hope to stop the Alduin Incident failed. Not to long afterwards, Alduin ruled the land and sky of Skyrim, demolishing anything he could get his claws on. Men, mer, and beast sought for survival and escape, both the current generation and all future generations to come. The Imperial Legion, under the orchestration of a man by the name of Duke Derevan, led an Evacuation Operation in which the citizens of Skyrim who survived were taken aboard a Legion vessel called The Durc and transported to the distant island of Solstheim. The mighty ship had destroyed any fleeing ship of Ulfric Stormcloak earlier, earning its honor to play its part in the exodus.
But that was almost 50 years ago. Since then, things have gone both uphill and very, very, downhill. Solstheim was eventually targeted by the Daedra, eyed by a corrupt Imperial Legion, and brutally attacked by the former and relentlessly occupied by the latter. With nowhere to run and divines know nowhere to hide, we were all but vanquished, fighting ultimately in vain to re-secure the island...then we were given a ray of hope.
The Divine Mara instructed us to sail to Atmora, which according to her was made habitable as a safe haven for us so both the Divines could engage the Daedra directly on Solstheim, and so we could have a safe place to reside until the Legion's conquest and pursuit of us died down. Either way, most recent reports claim Soltheim was razed clean of anything living after we, the "Remnant of Solstheim", left the island.
What happened after that has remained shady at best. The Legion lessened their devotion of resources to hunting after our heads, and likewise most of the bounty hunters seeking us gave up their chase. We spent about a year on Atmora, continuing our lives and even meeting new allies as if nothing was wrong. Using the term "nothing" very loosely, of course. Aside from that, though, the past five years, for most of us, seem to have gone by in a flash. During these five years, starting around 4E 246, we left Atmora, being called by Mara instead to travel to a recently-popularized landmass somewhere to the west of Tamriel. What was the name again? Even after these five years I have trouble remembering it...
Ah yes, how on Nirn could I forget? Solterkardi.
~Anonymous Writer, 15th of Morning Star, 4E 251
--------
Solterkardi: Chaos of Transfigured Corruption
Still mysterious since its initial discovery in 4E 241 by a crew of Nordic explorers and Orismer pioneers, the strange land mass dubbed "Solterkardi" by one of the crewmen (who claimed to have felt the name "calling to his soul") lies a couple miles off the Northwestern coast of Tamriel, and seems to have more-or-less appeared out of thin air some time during this era.
Solterkardi's climate is almost unnatural despite its Northwestern geographic location. The majority of the land is composed of temperate plains which are mostly surrounded by high mountain ranges that block general mobility aside from a network of conveniently-placed tunnels. There are other regions scattered among the mountainous land containing more varied landscapes, but are either completely inaccessible or require a timely trek through the tunnels that oddly enough stretch for miles, but feel as if they take a few minutes to wander through. Stranger so, this never seemed to bother the pioneers. Nor did it bother their families. Nor did it bother the first settlers, nor the first town, nor the residents of the first city on Solterkardi: Sol'Civith, established 4E 244. Over the next two years after that, Solterkardi almost instantaneously acquired Tamreilic notability, and trade routes and ferry systems were established on a rapid scale, and a seamless independent government was established without question or opposition.
Among those who came were the Remnant of Solstheim themselves in 4E 246, some of whom claimed they were "sent" there by a Divine. Most people just treat them as any other common rambler, and some claim their stories are merely fictitious tales trying to boast their "prowess", primarily due to their claims of settling Atmora, a land many still assumed was an inhospitable arctic wasteland, and especially the claims of interacting directly with Divines (specifically Mara) and other supernatural beings on both Atmora and Solstheim.
By 4E 250, a year prior to the current date, Solterkardi became a fully-developed independent land mass. Word and rumors spread wildly through Tamriel, describing it as a "splendorous land ripe with culture". Some who have decided to visit the land claim to have been drawn by different circumstances, a common factor being the usage of the words "calling" or "siren" or other such "tug-on-the-soul", but unlike the Remnant of Solstheim's alleged "sending", these people do not attach this to any deity, even those who affiliate strongly with Divines or even Daedra, rather being drawn by some other entity; drawn by the promise of a major land-grab, a secluded paradise away from the chaos of the rest of the world, or another unknown presence enticing them.
However, something is clearly amiss. While the land sounds like a utopia in the rumors, little do people realize until they see for themselves that the land is as corrupt as any Tamrielic province; bandits prowl in camps in the wilds, monstrous creatures stalk in the night, and rumors are circulating of a cult of sorts secretly conspiring somewhere away from the public eye. To top it all off, Lord Gunjar, the current ruler of the land, has reportedly become corrupt, defiling the land with a very bizarre behavior; from "small" things like complete segregation of the elite "rich" and common "poor" in the central city of Sol'Civith and outlawing the practice of all magic, to longer-reaching circumstances like cutting off contact from the Empire and doing nothing about the chaos and distress occurring anywhere outside his own palace.
However, none of this has kept people from coming. In fact, despite this, most of those that come claim to never be leaving, stating the calling/siren is too strong for them to leave now after such-and-such time. The boats still come, and the people still remain (even the discriminated whose lives are a living hell in the land). If anything, the immigration rate has skyrocketed, with people coming in from all walks of life and all corners of Tamriel...and you are among them.
You have come seeking this land to experience what it has to offer you...and to determine what you can "offer" it. Your reasons are you own. Have you come to start a new life with a clean slate in a land set apart from the rest of the world? Have you come to end the corruption and bring order to the frontier? Are you simply among the vast majority who just feel "called" to come? Or are you here with a much more sinister objective? Are you here to seek power to control others through the twisted government? To pillage the cities of all they own? To escalate the corruption and chaos that plagues the land?
There's a world of possibilities, far too many to describe them all. A world of choices in a land of mystery and adventure. Your actions can potentially change the course of all life in this alienated land. The actions of all will either uncover the truth of this land and end the corruption, or condemn it to Oblivion to share a similar fate as Solstheim...
